Method for treating a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid

Abstract

Processes and systems are provided for treating parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluids are provided.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method for treating a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising: passing a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic through a microorganism blocking porous fluid filtration element and intravascularly administering the fluid to a patient.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 comprising passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic through the fluid filtration element wherein said element has a pore rating of less than about 0.8 micrometers. 
     
     
       3. The method of claim 1 comprising passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic through the fluid filtration element wherein said element has a pore rating of less than about 0.5 micrometers. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim 2 wherein the parenteral emulsion-containing fluid comprising an anesthetic includes an oil-in-water emulsion. 
     
     
       5. The method of claim 1 wherein passing the fluid through the fluid filtration element comprises passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic through a device including a housing having an inlet and an outlet and defining a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic flow path between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the fluid filtration element is arranged between the inlet and the outlet and across the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid flow path. 
     
     
       6. The method of claim 5 further comprising separating a gas from the fluid flow path of the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid. 
     
     
       7. The method of claim 6 wherein passing the gas from the fluid flow path of the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprises passing the gas through at least one gas venting element. 
     
     
       8. The method of claim 1 wherein passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid through the microorganism blocking fluid filtration element depletes the fluid of at least one of Candida albicans, Acinetobacter lwoffi, and Moraxella. 
     
     
       9. The method of claim 1 wherein the parental emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising an anesthetic includes a lipid. 
     
     
       10. A method for treating a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising: passing a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprising propofol through a microorganism blocking fluid filtration element.   
     
     
       11. The method of claim 10 comprising passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament comprising propofol fluid through the fluid filtration element wherein said element has a pore rating of less than about 0.5 micrometers. 
     
     
       12. The method of claim 10 wherein passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament comprising propofol fluid through the fluid filtration element comprises passing the fluid through a device including a housing having an inlet and an outlet and defining a parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid flow path between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the fluid filtration element is arranged between the inlet and the outlet and across the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid flow path. 
     
     
       13. The method claim 12 further comprising separating a gas from the fluid flow path of the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid. 
     
     
       14. The method of claim 13 wherein passing the gas from the flow path of the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid comprises passing the gas through at least one gas venting element. 
     
     
       15. The method of claim 12 further comprising administering the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid to a patient. 
     
     
       16. The method of claim 10 comprising passing propofol through the fluid filtration element which comprises two or more layers. 
     
     
       17. The method of claim 16 comprising passing propofol through two or more layers having a pore rating of less than about 0.8 micrometers. 
     
     
       18. The method of claim 17 wherein passing the propofol through two or more layers includes passing the propofol through at least one layer having a pore rating of about 0.45 micrometers. 
     
     
       19. The method of claim 10 wherein the fluid filtration element comprises at least an upstream layer, and a downstream microorganism blocking layer, the method comprising passing propofol through the upstream layer and the downstream microorganism blocking layer. 
     
     
       20. The method of claim 19 comprising passing propofol through the upstream layer having a pore rating in the range of about 5 to about 1 micrometers. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 20 comprising passing propofol through the downstream layer having a pore rating in the range of about 0.8 to about 0.2 micrometers. 
     
     
       22. The method of claim 21 comprising passing propofol through the downstream layer having a pore rating of about 0.45 micrometers. 
     
     
       23. The method of claim 10 wherein passing the parenteral emulsion-containing medicament fluid through the microorganism blocking fluid filtration element depletes the fluid of at least one of Candida albicans, Acinetobacter lwoffi, and Moraxella.